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Dr Stone's analysis of Sydney's PT

Started by somebody, August 27, 2011, 20:26:55 PM

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somebody

Excerpt from this link: http://www.abp.unimelb.edu.au/gamut/pdf/senate-public-transport-inquiry.pdf

Dr John Stone said:
Quote2. Sydney
Sydney wins the prize as the 'least unsustainable' city in 2006, with the lowest share for
travel to work by car drivers (63.4%), the highest mode share for public transport (21.2%)
and the equal-second-highest share for walking (4.9%). However, Sydney's comparably
strong performance is a legacy of the transport policies of past decades, particularly the
strong pro-rail stance of the Wran government in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The
opening of the Eastern Suburbs line to Bondi, other extensions of electrified services and
general modernisation works stemmed the decline in rail patronage and even lifted its
mode share.

The last two decades have seen deterioration in rail services and a large program of
motorway building. The improvements in mode share ceased, and substantial declines
were only prevented by the city's historical strengths of an extensive rail system, relatively
high population densities and employment in suburban centres with rail access.

Progress in Sydney is now being hampered by two main problems.

The first problem in Sydney is the continued emphasis on motorway construction, which
provides incentives for more passengers to abandon rail. The preference for motorways is
driven partly by despair at the prospects for improving public transport, and by the biased
nature of Federal transport funding.

The second problem is an entrenched culture of poor public transport management that
continues to take a fragmented and narrow approach to service planning
, and the processes
of regulation are labyrinthine. Four decades ago, the authors of the Sydney Region Outline
Plan lamented:
Quote
In Sydney's inner suburbs ... there is virtually no bus-rail co-ordination. Many bus
routes run parallel to rail routes direct to the City Centre, thereby competing
directly with the rail system rather than feeding into it at strategically located
interchange stations. Attractive and convenient facilities for transferring from buses
to trains are almost non-existent. In many cases, to go from a bus stop to a railway
station, passengers have to cross busy thoroughfares, or walk some distance
without shelter... Much remains to be done in this area before Sydney can
experience the benefits of a public transport system as good as Toronto in which
bus and rail services are closely integrated, passenger transfer from one system to
the other is made convenient by the existence of carefully designed interchange
stations, and tickets for both systems are fully interchangeable...2

Unfortunately, little has changed since then. While some work is being done to reorganise
rail operations in an attempt to increase capacity and improve punctuality, this is directed
predominantly towards engineering projects rather than the 'software' of network design
and timetabling. It is happening in isolation from bus and ferry operations which continue
to operate as if the rail system, rather than the car, was the main competitor.

One clear illustration of this problem is the fact that Sydney is now the only Australian
capital city without a multi-modal ticketing system. (The current 'smart-card' project is not
a multi-modal ticketing system: rather, it is a technology enabling operators to continue
charging separate fares for each stage of a multi-modal journey.)

I completely agree with the criticism of the entrenched mediocrity, however, I don't completely agree about little having been done re: interchange.  Perhaps they should head to the Bondi Junction interchange!  Or even Parramatta, Strathfield, Bankstown and numerous others. However, the complete failure to utilise the Epping bus flyover was quite a shocker.

I'd also have to give them the point about the lack of multi modal tickets, at least without having to pay a premium for them.

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